I don’t remember when I first became obsessed with playing a Columbia Games block wargame, but I would guess it was some time between ten and fifteen years ago. That game was Hammer of the Scots, and I still haven’t played it. Something about it captured my imagination, but it cost at least seventy euro, I was a broke student, and I already had several underplayed two player games so I couldn’t really justify the expense. Still, the idea of playing Hammer of the Scots lingered on and every time it got a reprint or showed up in stock somewhere I would think “maybe this time”.
A peaceful and lovely England with no strife to be seen, sure would be a shame for a royal pretender to come along and mess things up.
Starting this blog finally gave me the impetus to buy a block wargame and see if it lived up to the expectations of my imagination. Astute readers will notice that this is not a report on my experience playing Hammer of the Scots – and that’s because Richard III was significantly cheaper. I may have really wanted to crush the Scots as Edward I, but I wanted to keep that €40 more. I almost bought Hammer of the Scots anyway, since I never much cared about Richard III, but the title of the game is a little misleading. This game is not about Richard III – in fact in our game he didn’t even show up. This is a full retelling of the War of the Roses in block game form – and as such I’m much more interested in it. While I’ve never much cared for Richard III, his brother Edward IV is another matter.
The Yorkist invasion begins, delivering some swift victories to the Pretender. Two heirs from House Lancaster flee to Scotland by sea after having been severely injured in the initial fighting.
I think block wargames appealed to me because I have a much more extensive background in miniatures wargaming and moving the blocks around the map has a very tactile element that appeals to that same part of my brain. I also really like the simple fog of war that is created by you only being able to see your side of the blocks – you know where your opponent is mustering their armies but not who is actually in that army until you fight. The classic line of block wargames put out by Columbia Games, which includes Richard III, Hammer of the Scots, and Crusader Rex, are all very easy to learn which is another appealing aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I love a big, complicated game, but sometimes you just need something nice and simple.
The Lancasters consolidate their forces, surrendering the south of England to the Yorkist invaders.
The game only has 25 cards and each round you’ll play 14 of them, seven each. Most of the cards have a number on them which indicates how many armies you can move and/or how many troops you can muster. There are also a few special events to spice things up. Players pick a card simultaneously and whoever has the higher number goes second, with the current king winning ties. Going second is basically always better, which gives a nice little advantage to the current monarch.
Opening of the second Campaign, despite a strong initial Yorkist attack Henry VI remains king. The Yorkist pretenders had to return to exile, but several nobles loyal to them remained at their home provinces in England.
The full game is played over three rounds, called Campaigns, with a check for who is the king after each one. Kingship is determined by how many nobles the player has in England and Wales, troops in exile in Scotland, Ireland, France, or Calais don’t count. We only played two Campaigns due to limited time, but I thought that was a really good amount of game. I don’t know if I’d be interested in just playing one Campaign – I like how the board resets between Campaigns and it makes the second very distinct from the first, but two is an excellent amount of game.
A second Yorkist invasion leads to a swift and crushing defeat for the few forces defending the southern coast. Lancaster consolidates its forces in the midlands.
One of the strongest endorsements I can give the game’s design is that my opponent and I naturally found ourselves replicating the power bases of the two historic factions – my Lancastrians retreated to the north of England while his Yorkists controlled London and the south. This is partly the result of how recruitment works – you can only bring new blocks onto the board in one of their home regions – but I think it is also subtly the result of where you sit when you play, I sat at Scotland looking across the board at the south of England. The naval movement rules also help prevent one side from just bottling up on one end of the board. They allow you to encircle your opponent, but they also allow you to retreat key units after a risky attack which makes it more tempting to launch one in the first place.
The House of Lancaster will not let this invasion stand and moves its armies south to confront the York invaders.
There are two ways to win Richard III, you can either be crowned king at the end of the final Campaign or you can kill every one of your opponents five heirs. The former seems like it will almost always be the means of victory. In our game we only successfully killed one royal – a very unfortunate King Henry VI. Battles can be pretty lethal, but you will rarely find yourself wiped out in one round and the retreat rules are reasonably generous – you only have to stick around for one of the possible four rounds of a fight. It’s also blessedly simple: all blocks have a letter and number rating and then a strength value which also acts as their health. In combat, earlier letters act first – all the defender’s A’s go then all the attacker’s, then the Bs and so on – when attacking a block rolls dice equal to its current strength and hits on results that are lower than its strength number, e.g. a B3 hits on 1s, 2s, and 3s. There are a few more modifiers to keep track of it, but that’s it. It’s easy to teach but also very tense and exciting during play. Importantly combat is not simultaneous, so the defender always has a chance to soften up the other side’s blocks before they attack.
Aftermath of the first battle, Lancaster seizes the south east but York forces are still in the region in strength.
If there is one aspect of Richard III, I would criticise it’s the treachery mechanic. The King, the Pretender (the chief heir of whichever side is not currently king), and Earl Warwick ‘The Kingmaker’ can all forego their attack in combat to make a treachery role instead. There is also one event card that allows you to make treachery roles. The thing is, many of your best units are immune to treachery – and giving up an attack is a pretty steep cost. You also don’t know when you’ll be facing enemy units that can be urged to betray their faction because of the game’s fog of war. It’s not a bad mechanic, but it also isn’t one that we really used.
York has relocated to the south west, and their newly consolidated army delivers a crushing defeat to Henry VI and his forces. Now the king is on very precarious footing and quite close to a hostile York army..
It tries to replicate the shifting loyalties of the War of the Roses but in practice no more than a handful of nobles are likely to defect in a single game unless you make an effort to use it as a core strategy. It’s also exceedingly difficult to make ‘The Kingmaker’ defect, which feels a bit like a mistake. I would have liked it if Warwick started loyal to the Yorkists but upon them first seizing the throne they have to give up something – maybe a kind of bad card replaces one of the cards in their hand to represent having to reward him – and if they refuse, he defects to the Lancastrians. The game is not worse for having this mechanic, but it also feels like with some more work or a different angle it could have been much more exciting than it is.
The Yorkists have killed the king! Henry VI is no more! In better news for the House of Lancaster, Yorkist power in eastern England has crumbled in the face of their onslaught.
Overall, I had a great time playing Richard III and I’m very excited to play it again. Unfortunately, block wargames like this are not really suitable for solo play because so much of the game is in the hidden information. That said, it’s relatively quick to play, our first game was probably around 90 minutes, and we were playing while also looking after a pair of toddlers. Without distractions and once you’re familiar with the game it would play much faster. It’s been said to death about this line of Columbia Games, but Richard III really is an excellent introductory wargame if you’re thinking of dipping a toe into the hobby. Next time I have access to a willing opponent Richard III will be high on my list of games to play!
Despite killing the king the House of York is unable to claim a majority of the barons of the realm - the House of Lancaster retains the throne. All hail King Edward IV of Lancaster!
Further Reading:
The War of the Roses by Anthony Goodman
The Castle in the War of the Roses by Dan Spencer